Psychologyspeaking topic
You're torn between two options, then a useless third option appears and suddenly choosing gets easy. Nobody ever picks the third one, but without it we couldn't decide. Are our preferences really ours, or do they depend on what gets placed next to them?
— the decoy effect
practice with this topic
Set the timer (5-30 min), take 20 seconds of prep if you like, start talking. Jot your thoughts onto the sticky-note board.
similar topics
- Disqualifying the positive: brushing off a compliment with 'they're just being nice'. Why does the brain filter out good news and hoard the bad?
- Mirror neurons: why do we flinch when we watch someone else get hurt? Could brain cells that fire as if we were performing the action ourselves be the foundation of empathy?
- At bottom God is nothing other than an exalted father.
- Memory consolidation: why does a new memory become permanent not at the moment of learning but hours or even days later? What does it physically mean for knowledge to 'settle in'?
- Loss aversion: why does losing a hundred dollars hurt more than winning a hundred dollars feels good? How does this asymmetry shape the way we take risks?